Lists of freeware antikeyloggers
= Anti-Keyloggers = Some freeware Anti-virus, Anti-spyware, Anti-trojan will detect keyloggers by signatures. Anti-rootkits that detect rootkits using generic methods can only often reveal keyloggers because they can defeat the methods used by keyloggers to hide. Hardware keyloggers cannot be detected by software methods. There are two types of software keyloggers: hooking keyloggers and kernel-driver keyloggers. Kernel keyloggers are harder to detect and, when they are installed, they can be almost invisible - many are pretty much kernel rootkits. The best defense against kernel keyloggers is to stop them from being installed in the first place by blocking drivers installations using HIPS or limited user accounts. Detection of installed kernel keylogger is difficult: an expert user using advanced antirootkit might possibly detect it. Hook-based keyloggers can be more easily detected and most of the entries on this page are designed to work against them. Many HIPS also have the ability to block global hooks which will stop hook-based keyloggers as well. There are other, application-specific keyloggers, most commonly those that target browsers via browser plug-ins (BHOs, extensions) or even proxies for man-in-the-middle attacks. Anti-Keyloggers #DewaSoft's KL-Detector v1.3 #http://usuarios.multimania.es/spyhunter/ (outdated: last update was on 05/29/01) #MaxSecurity Lab's DataGuard Anti-Keylogger Free (protects against 5 types of keyloggers) #SpyShelter Personal Free #Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free #SUPERAntiSpyware Free #See also List of freeware anti-rootkits for detection of keyloggers by generic methods. #See also Lists of freeware antivirus, Lists of freeware antispyware and Lists of freeware antitrojan for detection of keyloggers by signature. KL-Detector works by trying to detect log files being created by the keylogger. It is probably not very effective except against the most basic keyloggers. SpyShelter Personal Free is an "anti-keylogging, anti-spyware program" that "detects and blocks dangerous and malicious programs". Free version has: System protection (HIPS), AntiKeylogger, AntiScreenCapture and AntiClipboardCapture. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free "The free version of our anti-malware application is designed to clean out all types of malicious malware, including viruses, spyware, trojans, ' keyloggers', password stealers, dialers and more."» SUPERAntiSpyware Free "Detect and remove Spyware, Adware, Malware, Trojans, Dialers, Worms, KeyLoggers, HiJackers and many other types of threats."» Other, Passive Methods to Protect against Keylogging (will not detect) These will not detect any keyloggers if they exist but will make it difficult for them to log valuable data. #DewaSoft's I Hate Keyloggers (nagware) #QFXSoftware's KeyScrambler Personal (for IE, Firefox & Flock) #MyPlanetSoft's Anti-Keylogger #NetworkIntercept's Free Anti-Keylogger (for Internet Explorer) #MaxSecurity Lab's NextGen Anti-Keylogger Free (for IE, Firefox & Safari) I Hate Keyloggers and MyPlanetSoft's Anti-Keylogger try to thwart keyloggers by deactivating any system-wide hook. This will prevent any existing hook-based keylogger from working. A few rare keyloggers like Martin's Undetectable Keylogger will not be blocked by either of them. KeyScrambler Personal has an interesting approach of encrypting keystrokes using a kernel driver before sending them to the browser. Any keylogger will only be able to log the encrypted input. Free Anti-Keylogger uses NetworkIntercept's Keystroke Interference. This "injects random data" between keystrokes. Virtual Keyboards # Neo's SafeKeys #PlanetSoft's Mouse-Only Keyboard (MOK) #MiloSoft's Virtual Keyboard #NetworkIntercept's Virtual Keyboard #Keylogger Beater (for Firefox) First off, the free on-screen keyboard offered by Windows XP Accessibility Tools is useless against keyloggers because of its emulation of keystrokes (even in hover mode). Neo's SafeKeys provides a virtual keyboard which changes "width and height each time, as well as its placement on the screen (to fool mouse-loggers, buttons will always be in different positions each time you use the program)". Passwords are entered into the virtual keyboard with point-and-click or hover mode and, then, inserted into the password field with drag-and-drop: it doesn't rely on the clipboard at all. Version 3 is available and its improvements over version 2 include "great screenlogger protection" and "injection mode" (for those programs that do not allow the preferred "drag and drop"). MyPlanetSoft's Mouse-Only Keyboard (MOK) provides a virtual keyboard with some clipboard-protection and protects against hook-based keyloggers using the same method as MyPlanetSoft's Anti-Keylogger. Password-Managers Password-managers are designed to maintain records of password or log-in details securely within encrypted databses, each locked with a master password or a key file. Some password-managers can provide a more secure way of entering log-in details (eg. drag-and-drop) that might thwart keyloggers. #LSN Password Safe LSN Password Safe is a free password-manager with anti-keylogging measures that can work portably from a USB flash drive. "It is easy to use ... with integrated spyware protection. Maximum attention was paid by creation of LSN Password Safe to protect against spyware." Other, Non-Technological Methods How to Login from an Internet Cafe without Worrying about Keyloggers observes that you can fool most keyloggers by "alternating between typing the login credentials and typing characters somewhere else in the focus window. For example, type one letter of your password, then click somewhere else within the same focus window (it must be the same window) and type some random characters, then click back in the password area and type the next character, and so on."» Other similar methods include typing a series of random characters in the form field, highlight them and, then, type the correct information. This will cause the highlighted random characters to be replaced with the valid characters. The idea here is to avoid using the delete key. Or you could assemble your password by cutting and pasting different strings. Another trick suggested by Ian Richards is to "enter a character by holding down the Alt key and using the numeric keypad. For example the letter 'a' can be entered by ALT 123."» He also recommends a combination of all these methods to assemble some of the password plus the use of a virtual keyboard like Neo's SafeKeys (portable) for the rest of the password affords even more protection, depending on how frequently screenshots are taken. Copying and pasting passwords from a password-manager to bypass the keyboard might be effective provided there is some protection of the clipboard. Testing Vulnerability to (Some) Keylogging Methods Anti-Keylogger Tester (AKLT) is a small (169KB) single-file program that, with its nine tests (7 keylogging & 2 screen-capturing), allows one to check the efficacy of anti-keylogging software. And Finally ... Trusteer's Anti-Keylogger Myths says: "Password managers can be easily bypassed using keyloggers that reside inside the browser ... known as man-in-the-browser malware or malicious browser plug-ins." It adds: "The browser plug-in technology grants the plug-in a lot of privileges, such as full access to the DOM (which is the internal representation of the page currently displayed), and subscription to browser events (such as “navigation”, “page load” and “form submission”). This makes it very easy for a malicious plug-in to get hold of the credentials." One might then infer a rather simple and straightforward precautionary measure against man-in-the-browser attacks: for general surfing, use your favourite browser with all your favourite plug-ins; for security-critical purposes such as online-shopping and -banking, use a different, portable browser (eg. Firefox, Iron, Opera, QtWeb) with an absolute minimum of trusted plug-ins (and, of course, maintain the security of the browser and any such plug-ins by keeping them updated to the latest versions). = Resources to learn about keylogging and antikeylogging = # Introduction to Spyware Keyloggers - http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1829 # How to Login from an Internet Cafe without Worrying about Keyloggers - http://cups.cs.cmu.edu/soups/2006/posters/herley-poster_abstract.pdf # Keyloggers: How They Work and How to Detect Them - http://www.viruslist.com/en/analysis?pubid=204791931 # Sandboxie and Keyloggers - http://www.sandboxie.com/index.php?DetectingKeyLoggers # Trusteer's Anti-Keylogger Myths - http://www.trusteer.com/sites/default/files/Anti_Keylogger_Myths.pdf ----